A Favourite Colour
by Escapeism
Summary: (PruCan One-Shot) Matthew fell victim to a disease of the eye when he was young, and suffered many years of difficulty until he finally saw that his world around him was just dark. He was blind. Despite his polite, sweet nature, on the inside he was truly saddened and lost without his sight. But, today he met somebody who brightened up his world.


When Matthew Williams was just a boy, he was unfortunately diseased with '_Retinitis Pigmentosa' _which is a disease of the eyes. It was small changes at first, but as he got older; it was found that he would probably go blind by the time he was twenty or twenty two years old. Unfortunately there was no cure for it, and he would have to wake up every morning knowing that one day he would no longer be able to see his family, his friends... And possibly never be able to see things he loved. It took years until he finally accepted his fate, even though he prayed constantly every day and wished upon stars, just continuing to hope and wish that he would not lose sight of everything that was amazing in his life.

He could not change his fate, and when he reached the age of twenty one, he was completely blind. His blue eyes were still the same, but appeared to have clouded slightly. At first, Matthew barely left his house, his room and just lay in bed with the windows and curtains closed... It took him a while to get used to it before he finally stepped outside. With help from his family and friends, he slowly built his way up to getting used to everything. In his small town, he finally knew his way around without help and his sense of sound had gotten stronger, and even his scent. He could almost literally smell the bakery that was down the road on the high street, and he could sense when it was about to rain.  
This disease did not stop him from carrying on his life, but it did scare him to wake up every morning and not see the sunlight shining through his window, or even see the little birds perched on a bird house on the tree in his garden. He could only know if it was morning from the sounds of birds outside his window, and maybe his alarm that went off. Matthew was living in a fast-developing world, and even so, he would not go to sleep without wishing and hoping that he would miraculously get his sight back. But, he knew such things were only the dreams of small children... So, he lived his life as a fragile, blind human being.

One morning, Matthew felt the air outside from his window and knew it was a cold day. So he put on a warm set of clothes, and grabbed his cane, setting out for a walk in the cold. It was a little cloudy and a little foggy, Matthew could feel the cold wetness settling on his pale skin. He walked through to the park and sat down on a wooden bench, which he knew was positioned in front of the large oak tree. Matthew wondered if the leaves had fallen off of the tree yet, considering it was October time... Matthew loved the autumn months, and he missed seeing the coloured leaves settled on the ground, and the beautiful shining conkers that sat on the ground from the September month. Matthew heard footsteps and he perked up a little, realising that somebody had sat next to him on the bench. He smiled softly, playing with his curled, blonde hair a little as he spoke, "Ah, morning..."

The man beside Matthew was a young albino man, Gilbert Beilschmidt who was around twenty five. He went out to walk his German Sheppard dog for his younger brother had had to work all day, and didn't have time to walk his dog. Both him and his brother were German and originated from Germany, they had recently moved into the small town to escape the frustrations of their lives back at home. They lived together, and both worked very hard to get their own homes... But Gilbert rather appreciated the company of his little brother... Even if he was a bit of a killjoy.  
Gilbert had been sitting comfortably on the bench next to the younger man, who was a little attractive... But didn't seem to take any notice of him. The dog was sniffing the blonde's trousers when the man greeted him.  
"Ah... Hello." Gilbert said slowly, a little surprised that the man had decided to address him so politely. His voice was very sweet, not to mention he had very beautiful hair...

Matthew felt the dog's snout press against his trousers and he jumped a little in surprise, before laughing and looking in the direction of the dog, "Oh my... Is that a dog?"  
"Ja..." Gilbert replied, looking at the man oddly. Didn't he know what a dog looked like...? He brushed it off, "German Sheppard. Bengel is his name." He smiled a little, "Sorry..."  
"Oh please don't apologise, is it alright if I pet him?" Matthew asked slowly, looking in the direction of the voice.

It was at that moment that Gilbert noticed the man's eyes, and saw that they were a little clouded, and barely moved at all. With what the man questioned about his dog, it was fairly obvious that the man was blind. "J-Ja. He's friendly, don't worry." Gilbert said, looking at Bengel, who was looking up at the blonde expectantly, his tail wagging.  
Matthew smiled softly and found the dog's head, stroking him softly and appreciating the feel of the dogs fur brushing against his fingertips. "What a soft dog..." He said softly, "Who's a good boy, hm?" He cooed to the animal.  
The dog tilted his head up to lick the strangers hand, which caused Matthew to giggle a little and pull his hand back, "Very good boy." He smiled.

Gilbert grinned a little at the man's reaction and looked towards the tree, noticing how a good amount of leaves had fallen off of it at this point, and he picked up a small, red leaf at his foot.  
Matthew felt a cold breeze caress his cheeks and brush through his blonde hair, but Gilbert shivered instead of appreciating the feel of nature unlike Matthew.  
"Oh, do you mind telling me if the leaves have fallen off of the tree...?" Matthew asked slowly to the stranger sitting next to him, glancing a little over to him.  
Gilbert perked up and looked towards the man, mostly staring at his eyes for a moment, before nodding, "It's... It's bare. The leaves are all over the ground right now... A lot of them are red and yellow." Gilbert explained.

"It sounds very beautiful..." Matthew said softly, blinking as a look of despair crossed his face. He looked towards the ground and felt around the wet ground, before finding a leaf and picking it up. His fingers smoothed across its surface and he felt the thin stems working through the plant. Matthew let out a breath, which came out in a small cloud of air, "What colour is this leaf...?" He asked.  
"It's red. Very red." Gilbert said, looking over at the man in fascination, feeling a little sorry for him. Gilbert couldn't imagine being blind, but he did have a few problems with his eyes himself, so he could relate to Matthew on a physical level.  
Matthew smiled a little, holding the leaf gently and caressing the wet surface of the leaf again, "I see... Red. Red is my favourite colour." He laughed a little, "It's strange..."  
Gilbert's interest was piqued, and he looked over at the leaf, "What is?"  
"Just... A blind man. Expressing his favourite colour..." Matthew said, mostly in pity of himself. He wish he could see again. The colour of his home nation's flag was red and white, so naturally his favourite colour was red.  
Gilbert shook his head, "Ach, it's not strange at all. Everyone has a favourite colour, blind or not..." Gilbert couldn't keep his eyes off of the strangers eyes, and he even sat a little closer to the other, "I think red is a pretty awesome colour."  
"You think so?" Matthew smiled, looking in the direction of the man's voice, "Red is the main colour on the Canadian flag... My home country. So... When I was younger, I obsessed over the colour." Matthew couldn't help but feel strange, expressing such things to a stranger...

"Canada, huh? I hear it's pretty up there..." Gilbert said conversationally, petting the dog which was looking at the ground in interest of a spider that was crawling along, "I'm from Germany... I've never really visited much of the world."  
Matthew smiled in interest, playing with a lock of his blonde hair, "Germany... I've always wanted to visit Germany, and see the sights with my own eyes." He shrugged a little, "I suppose I could still go... But... It won't be as fun." He said, chewing on his lip a little.  
"Oh ja? I recommend it. Even if you can't see! The food is gut, and the people are nice." Gilbert convinced, seeing the look of self-pity upon the blonde's sweet face. A look of sadness did not belong on such a pretty face, that was for sure.  
Matthew nodded a little, tapping the bench softly with his fingers, "Yes... I suppose so... But I hear Germany is beautiful... I wish I could see it for myself, that's all."  
Gilbert nodded in slight understanding, before looking to the tree again, "Ah... I have to get going..." He said softly, feeling a little sad that he had to leave this man.

Matthew blinked in surprise, looking up at the voice, "Oh, I see! Yes... Sorry for keeping you." He apologised softly, smiling, "Sorry for being a downer to your morning, sir."  
Gilbert waved his hand dismissively, "Ah, it's no big deal." He laughed a little, "It's been nice talking to you, though..."  
"It's been most lovely to talk to you too." Matthew replied in turn, looking at the sky for a moment, before back at the man, "Hey... I'm Matthew."  
Gilbert grinned, taking the man's hand and smoothing his thumb over the other's knuckles, and shaking his hand, "Hallo. I'm Gilbert. Call me Gil if you want." He said softly, letting go of him, "And, hey, want to meet here tomorrow?"  
The blonde's cheeks darkened a light pink colour as he felt the soft contact of Gilbert's thumb against his knuckles, it was obvious it was a reassuring manner... Reassuring to his blindness, possibly. "S-Sure... I walk every day." He said softly.

Gilbert grinned at the other, "Great. I hope to see you again, as soon as possible." For some odd reason, Gilbert felt like he wanted to protect this man. Blind to the world, and lost in his own self-pity from his problem... He wanted to help. And, Gilbert was fairly sure he was falling in love with those eyes.


End file.
